Cluny: In Search of God's Lost Empire

Cluny: In Search of God's Lost Empire
by Edwin Mullins

Cluny: In Search of God's Lost Empire
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Book Summary Information

Author: Edwin Mullins
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-01
ISBN: 1933346175
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Bluebridge

Book Reviews of Cluny: In Search of God's Lost Empire

Book Review: An Unaffetionate Overview of Cluny
Summary: 3 Stars

Mullins shows his colors as more of an art and architecture writer than a historian. He also shows an amazing lack of respect for the faith and practices of the men of the Benedictine monastery of Cluny in France. The text is littered with rather antagonistic language regarding the Christianity and monasticism of Cluny, especially its celibacy, obedience, and supposed 'misogyny' - in essence, the reason for being of all that made Cluny what it was. It is hard to imagine a man with so little affection for the faith and life of the Cluniac monks writing a book on them that was published.

I was originally interested by Cluny through a reference in the 'Church in History' series (SVS Press) edited by Andrew Louth. Cluny was described as the mechanism whereby the Roman papacy 'learned' how to be a universal organization since Cluny's ability to administer its dependencies across most of Western Europe and into the Levant helped to turn the idea of a universal papacy with an active, immediate and local jurisdiction a reality. The lay investiture crisis between Pope and Holy Roman Emperor that Abbot Hugh of Cluny sought to defuse was also given, in Louth, as an example of clashing worldviews: Germanic (Frankish) law understood ownership as having to do with land alone - there was understanding of 'corporate personality' that would allow for a transnational, non-geographic organization such as the Church or a monastic Order to own and have authority over anything apart from the local landowner, lord or bishop.

Paradigmatic examples such as these that discuss Cluny as more than a romantic, medieval movement that left us some detritus of great art, but was itself little more than an example of the corrupt and backwards Roman Catholic church of the middle ages are lacking in "Cluny: In Search of God's Lost Empire". Mullins is more interested in poking condescending fun at the monks and their faith, reveling in his own knowledge of what remains of the tragic dismantling of the vast complex of Cluny itself, while only following the story of the abbey as a through line for the preceding.

While his prose is fluid and memorable, Mullins loses himself in architectural nomenclature that the average to above average reader will not be readily familiar. This could have easily been remedied by a series of well-noted photographs and diagrams (which may perhaps be present in the hardcover edition, but which are lacking in the paperback). The same can also be said of the now obscure locations mentioned in the book; this could have been helped by a better map both of Cluniac dependencies in Burgundy and the Maconnaise, France and abroad.

A better overview of the history of this influential religious Order should be available in English - or must soon be translated. Mullins should stick to writing books on peoples, movements and topics he has greater affection - and respect - for.

Summary of Cluny: In Search of God's Lost Empire

One thousand years ago, the French abbey of Cluny was the hub of one of the most powerful empires of the Middle Ages and the spiritual heart of Europe. Cluny was a Benedictine monastery in Burgundy, its church a breathtaking structure of towers, roofs, walls, and windows almost 600 feet long and 100 feet high?a true wonder of the world. Reconstructing the lives, beliefs, and ambitions of Cluny's countless monks and legendary abbots, such as Hugh the Great and Peter the Venerable, this book discusses the abbey and its network of 1,500 dependent monasteries in the context of medieval European history. Exploring a monastery like no other, this historical account investigates Cluny's enduring legacy through the great cultural innovations that the abbey sponsored, from the famous medieval pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela to some of the most magnificent churches in all of France and England.

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